Sugar Land revisits parking issue

City reviews concerns of Clements' neighbors

RACHEL PATTON, Copyright 2003 Houston Chronicle

Published
5:30 am CDT, Thursday, June 19, 2003

When Sugar Land city officials enacted Ordinance 1196 four years ago to restrict parking in neighborhoods around Clements High School, residents thought it was a good idea. But four years later, when they were paying the tickets, they began to reconsider.

"When I was walking around the neighborhood around Clements doing my campaigning, several residents complained because they could get a parking ticket for parking in front of their very own house," District 4 City Councilman Mike Schiff said.

In response, City Council members recently passed a law lifting the no-parking zone on Greystone Way from Oak Trail Court to Sweetwater Boulevard, and officials are discussing other areas to remove from the 1999 ordinance.

Residents requesting that the ordinance be lifted generally live in areas far enough from the school where parking is not a problem.

"We noticed over the years that no kids were parking here," said Linda Brown, who lives on Greystone Way. "The kids who live on this street weren't even walking to school themselves because it's too far. It was an unnecessary restriction.

"We took the steps needed to get the restrictions lifted," she said.

While some residents are happy to see the restrictions lifted, others want them to remain in place with provisions that they be able to park their own vehicles on the street. In a recent workshop, council members discussed alternatives to the parking ban, such as parking permits.

Some members said problems would arise when a maid, gardener or repair worker parked in front of a house.

"These people would not have permits," Schiff said. "So the city has said it's too difficult and still doesn't solve the problem."

But he plans to research how a permit system could be successful. He hopes to have an answer by September.

"I don't think this is that complicated," he said. "It's not rocket science. I believe we can find a way that citizens can park in front of their own driveways. I would like to try to help these people find a way. I just don't have an answer yet."

Ordinance 1196 resulted after residents complained that high school students were parking on their streets during school hours. Clement's parking lot accommodates about 700 cars, a couple hundred less than the number of students who drive to the school.

"The overflow kids who could not get parking places around Clements would park on the streets around the homes in the neighborhood," Schiff said.

Students smoked or threw cans in yards. Parked cars would line both sides of streets, making access difficult for emergency vehicles.

Some residents could not even get out of their own driveways, Schiff said.

"The streets were becoming a parking lot," Mayor David Wallace said. "At that time, there were a number of citizens petitioning the city asking that there would be a no parking zone."

So, the city held several discussion groups that included members of the community and representatives from the Fort Bend Independent School District and the First Colony Community Services Association. The groups decided that enacting parking restrictions on streets within several blocks of the school might solve the problem.

According to the original ordinance, parking was restricted in areas around the school from 7-10 a.m., as well as from 2-4 p.m. Later, that time was shortened to 8-9 a.m. and 2-3 p.m., long enough so that high school students could not leave their car parked in front of houses while they went to school.

If students violated the restrictions, they could be fined up to $200. But residents soon realized that the no-parking zones applied to their cars, too.

"There were a couple of streets where we had 100 percent of the homeowners saying they didn't want anyone to park there," Wallace said. "Then when the ordinance was enacted, they said, `Wait a minute, that means we can't park there either.' So, we had some groups come back and say they didn't want the restrictions."

In the four years the ordinance has been in place, residents, by street, have periodically petitioned the city to lift the no-parking restrictions, particularly in the areas farther from the school. The ordinance can be revised only if 75 percent of the homeowners on the street join the petition.

Schiff said the council likely will discuss more areas where residents want the no-parking zone lifted.